Germany Russia withdraws air defense from Syria
Following the fall of long-time ally Bashar al-Assad, Russia has withdrawn its air defense and other weapons from various areas of Syria.
19.12.2024, 05:43
SDA
According to media reports and information from military circles, some of them have been transferred to the North African civil war country of Libya. An ex-officer under Assad told the German Press Agency that some of the systems and tanks had been moved to eastern Libya, which is ruled by the renegade General Khalifa Haftar. The withdrawal of the air defense was also confirmed by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The "Wall Street Journal" first reported this, citing American and Libyan sources.
Russia had kept Assad in power for years during the civil war with airstrikes on his enemies. Moscow has maintained naval and air bases in Syria for years. They have been important cornerstones for Russia's exercise of power in the Middle East and for securing its interests in Africa, serving as a hub for the transportation of troops, mercenaries and weapons. Russian President Vladimir Putin now appears to want to preserve the influence of the eastern Libyan ruler Haftar in the region and use it for his own purposes, the Wall Street Journal reported. Haftar has been supported by the Kremlin for years.
Western military looking at Libya
Libya is considered a "failed state", which descended into chaos after the fall and death of long-term ruler Muammar al-Gaddafi in October 2011. For years, the country has been torn between competing centers of power in the West and East. In the dispute for power with the government in Tripoli in the west of the country, Haftar would benefit from better air defense and offensive weapons. According to dpa information, Western military forces have been keeping a close eye on whether Russia is expanding its presence in Libya.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Russian cargo planes recently brought equipment for the S-400 and S-300 air defense systems from Syria to eastern Libya. The fact-checking department of the British broadcaster BBC analyzed satellite images showing an accumulation of military vehicles at the Russian-controlled naval base in Tartus, Syria, and at the Chmeimim military airbase.
Reports of Russian activities at Syrian bases
According to the report, columns of Russian military vehicles can be seen moving north towards these two bases. Transport planes are said to have flown in and out of Syria in recent days. The two bases were of great strategic importance to Russia because they facilitated the country's access to the Middle East, North Africa and the Mediterranean.
According to the US Institute for the Study of War (ISW), the latest activities at the two bases indicate preparations for a reduction or complete withdrawal of Russian forces from Syria, the BBC reported. However, it could also be a precautionary measure while Moscow negotiates the continued use of the bases with the new rulers in Syria.
Russian mercenaries in Libya too
Air and naval bases in Libya would not fully compensate for the loss of power that Russia would suffer in Syria, the Wall Street Journal quoted analysts as saying. "In principle, Russia also has the opportunity to gain privileged access to the port of Tobruk via the eastern Libyan ruler Haftar in order to tranship ammunition there if necessary," said a situation analysis by the German Ministry of Defense on 11 December, which was obtained by dpa. According to estimates, there are also thousands of mercenaries from the Russian Wagner Group in Libya.
Wagner fighters had used Haftar's bases as a transit hub for other African countries, the Wall Street Journal reported further. The warlord has been asking Russia for air defense systems for years in order to strengthen his influence in the divided country. However, according to the analysis by the German Ministry of Defense, Haftar is also fundamentally concerned with maintaining a balanced relationship with the West. In addition, other eastern Libyan elites are critical of too close a relationship with Russia.
HTS leader calls for sanctions to be lifted
In an interview with the BBC in Damascus, the Syrian leader of the Islamist group Haiat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which toppled Assad with its lightning offensive, called for the lifting of sanctions against Syria. His country was exhausted by the war and posed no threat to its neighbors or the West, said Ahmed al-Sharaa. "Now, after all that has happened, the sanctions must be lifted because they were directed against the old regime. The victim and the oppressor should not be treated in the same way."
The HTS is not a terrorist group, al-Shaara said. He denied in the interview that he wanted to turn Syria into a kind of second Afghanistan. In the country in the Hindu Kush, the Islamist Taliban established draconian rules and punishments after taking power and deprived women and girls of practically all educational opportunities. Syria and Afghanistan are different and have different traditions, said al-Shaara. He believes in education for women, and at some universities in the country there are more women than men.
